National Hockey League Books

This book is pretty good, but it could certainly have been better. It has a very large amount of quotations and stories of various "tough guys", "enforcers" and general managers. The people who are quoted are disproportionately from Minnesota, but that is because -I believe- the author is from that area. I didn't mind it given I am from MN, but I think some others might notice it as well and wonder why that was the case. It is quite easy to read and I do recommend it for anyone who is looking for something like that and enjoys hearing stories about the "Code". In my view, however, Bertstein did not develop the book as much as he might have been able. He relies TOO much on quote after quote...and they are multiple paragraphs in length. When you to find a copy and page through it you will probably remember my comment and chuckle bit at the volume and length of quotes you noticed. There is significant repetition which is a bit annoying. It felt as if he was trying to turn a long article into book. As a teacher, I recognize when a student starts to babble a bit in their paper with the obvious goal of adding some length to their submitted assignment. The repetition, along with the author's reliance on lengthy quote after lengthy quote is why I did the teacher thing and marked Bertstein down from five stars to four stars. It was a good book, but could have been better and a bit more original.

I am a huge NHL fan and have read many hockey books, and this one left me unimpressed.

If you are a serious hockey fan, you will enjoy a new fighting anecdote or two in this book, but you will not learn much. Some players protect, other players are protected, but no one disrespects the game; nothing new there.

If you are a "newbie" to the NHL and its seemingly purposeless violence, then this book is a good read to better understand the culture of the game and some of its colorful characters.

Not to harp on after what so many have already noted, but the plethora of basic errors is an unwelcome distraction. To compound the problem, many of the the errors are glaring, i.e. not really understanding the game-misconduct penalty, or when focusing on the NHL players who are Captain of their team, he admirably highlights Cam Neely, who never wore the "C" in Boston or Vancouver (note to author: Ray Bourque is not best pleased). Hiring a good researcher would have improved this book by 40%.

By missing so many of the basics of hockey itself, it is too much to expect that this book will be able to penetrate the complex idiosyncrasies that make up The Code. In this respect, the book doesn't fail, which is a shame because this might have been an opportunity missed. To have a book that was able to deconstruct fighting in hockey in a way that Bill Bruford did about Soccer Hooligans in his legendary book "Among the Thugs" would have been an achievement.

Unfortunately the constant repetition of quotes from a limited section of NHL enforcers fails to bring forth any consensus on what the role of fighting in the NHL should be. In 2008, with a bullying team in Anaheim as Stanley Cup holders and other teams beefing up, the NHL continues to look nervously at the UFC and wonder (is worry too strong a word?) over the same question. This book never tries to seriously address these issues and you are left to wonder why.

being new hockey fans it has often been confusing as to why some penalties are called and some things aren't. Hearing long time fans complaining about calls that seem obvious. why is fighting allowed in hockey but not other team sports. This book does an excellent job of explaining how hockey has evolved and the reasons behind a lot of the actions on the ice. Definately opens up another line of thinking and allows you to have a better perspective of the game from the players point of view.

I read nearly every hockey book that comes out, and never write reviews, until now. I was so frustrated, I had to put it down after about 16 pages. Did anybody bother to fact-check this book? First, the Richard riot did not occur during the season after Richard's suspension, but very shortly afterwards. Second, and most aggravating, nobody ever serves a game misconduct in the penalty box. You're kicked out of the game; that's why they call it a game misconduct. So how can someone come out of the penalty box after serving a game misconduct? In addition to the fact this guy doesn't understand hockey and the failure to check facts, it's almost as if he simply turned on his tape recorder, got the same quote from lots of different guys, and sent it in. The only thing that keeps me from calling it the worst hockey book I ever read isthe fact that I couldn't finish it, it was too aggravating. If you want a GOOD book on fighting in hockey, I recommend Ultimate Bad Boys by Stan Fischler.

Hhmm.. This wasn't a bad book at all. It gives pretty good insight into the lives of star players like Pavel Bure and such, and gives info on how they got started and who helped them develope into the players they are now. Around the back part it has some pages that go into the personal lives of players like Roenick and tells the kinds of superstitions and routines that they have and if your an Avs fan they have an interview with Marc Crawford at the very end. All in all, not a bad book.

"Hockey Players Speak" is an enjoyable read so long as you ingnore the common punctuation errors and the fact that some of the players interviewed are still in the process of learning english. All in all, the reader gets some very personal stories directly from the player's mouths and at the same time realize that these guys are human and don't spend their entire lives on the ice.

The book is divided up into three categories: an indepth look at a players' life recounted by the player; 'Day in the Life of' section that follow's a players' typical day; and 'Press Conferences' that are neat little quickie interviews.

The best interviews are from the European players because so little is known about them and they are rarely focused on in other hockey books. Although their english is a little shaky in places, the reader is suprised to see that these usually quiet individuals are well spoken and are quite intellegent.

There's no startling revelations here, just some good anecdotes and quotes to help pass away a lazy, rainy afternoon. If you would like to delve a little deeper into some of the NHL's stars and learn where they came from then pick up this book. It's worth it just to see what their favorite ice cream flavour is....{You'll have to read it to find out!} Enjoy!

Wish I had a buck for every typo in this book. Brutal.

There are two types of player ratings. The first, where nostalgia counts for about 80% and actuall numbers and talent 20%. And the second, well that doesn't exist at the moment. I agree that new fans need to know the greats; however, your job is to rate the top 100 players. Now, to Yzerman. He did not have the "Gretzky Rule" where no one was allowed to touch him or the size of a Lemuiex. He did everything on pure talent and a dogged determination. When someone has a top 100 without Yzerman in the top 10, it says more about the author than the player.

Not a bad book except for the absurdity of Gretzky being #1 in front of Orr. It seems to me the only people this would be a debate for are those who are not old enough or lucky enough to have seen Orr actually skate and play. You can't just look at numbers on a page and decide; you have to watch them in action! And anyone who has watched Orr in action wouldn't mistake Gretzky for #1. Gretzky put up AMAZING numbers, and, yes, that is part of the decision making process. But not all of it.
If you had a team of 6 Orr's against 6 Gretzky's, Gretzky would have a hard time even touching the puck for the whole game. How could you EVER get the puck away from 6 Orr's? You couldn't. It would be a slaughter and then no one could mistake Gretzky as #1. But alas, to see such a match up is a fantasy!
Also, I think it is a damn crime that Gretzky's number got retired from the ENTIRE N.H.L. instead of just from his team whereas Orr's number just got retired from the Bruins.

How can this book claim to be about the top players of all time when Steve Yzerman is conspicuously absent from the top 50. How many of these players have clocked up his kind of numbers ( for example: 155 points in a season ) and still continue to be a prodigious presence on the ice? Top 100? Don't make me laugh. This book lost all credibility the moment I read the contents page.

What makes this book so credible is that the most respected names in the world of hockey analysis compiled a list of the men that were the best of the best during their time. Due to the date of publication, some of the rankings would no longer be considered legit, but while reading about a certain player, the information and stories provided allows you to forget about rankings and simply relive the magic that the players brought to the game.
The Top 5 Players creates the biggest discussion. The debate will forever go on as to who the greatest player ever was. The debate usually revolves around Howe, Orr and Gretzky. There is a second arguement between who was better, Gretzky and Mario. Wayne Gretzky left no questions unanswered while Orr and Mario left us wondering what could have been. Gordie Howe will forever have a place in our heart as Mr.Hockey and was the perfect choice for Third overall. Rocket Richard was a nice way to round out the top 5. This piece of literature has inspired endless debates in the hockey world and anything that generates interest in hockey gets a seal of approval from me. I suggest reading this book or at least reading about some of the players you are more familiar with because I guarantee you will gain a new appreciation to what they brought to the game.

This is a fine, nicely produced, digest-like introduction to pro hockey's most legendary players, the men who made the game in the 20th century. Filled with large, professional photos, brief statistical packages, and well-written summaries of each player's career, it would make a nice gift for the casual fan, as well as serve as the starting point of "discussions" among seasoned fans who are likely to disagree with the Hockey News' choices and rankings. / Since this is a virtual reproduction of the "Top 50 NHL Players of All-Time" magazine that was published by THN in Jan. 1998 -- the only additions being 14 pages covering players ranked 51-100 (with tidbit sized entries), another 10 pages covering "future prospects" and some more color photos -- fans who bought the magazine and feel compelled to buy this volume may try to look at the money spent on the book as less of a rip than the money spent on the magazine.

I don't know what the reader from Livonia is referring to. Montreal did win the Cup in 1966 4-0. But the very next year Toronto did beat Montreal 4-2 to win it. It seems the reader misread the year, not the author miswriting. I could find no reference to Toronto winning the Cup in '66.

In all I find the book to not be of the quality of Total Hockey by the same publisher (a great buy) but is certainly worthy of purchase. If you're into statistics there's plenty inside.

On page 43 of this book, it states that Toronto won the Stanley Cup by defeating Montreal to win the best-of-seven series, 4-2. In reality, Montreal defeated Toronto, 4-0. Before you post a review criticizing another reviewer, make sure you get your facts straight.

This books lists Toronto defeating Montreal in the 1966 Stanley Cup playoffs, 4 games to 2. That must have happened on another planet because Montreal won the series, not Toronto. And it was 4 games to none. I haven't had time to check the rest of the book, but you would think that the author would have double-checked the data and proofread it. This was not a misspelling or transposed digits. I wonder what other errors were overlooked. If you want to be called "The Official Encyclopedia of the Stanley Cup," you have to live up to the name. Let the buyer beware!

This is a great publication. It contains all that you could possibly want to know about Lord Stanley's Cup.

The book, Cracked Ice: an Insider's Look at the NHL, was ok in my opinion. It was more like a news story or a flashback than a real story of Stan Fischler's experiences. I did like how it expressed the emotions of the people during certain parts though. An example would be how Stan invited hockey players to his son's hospital to help him forget, or just wait, for a heart to be transplanted in him. Stan expressed his feelings somewhat and how he dealt with it. The book also included how the Canadians felt their national sport, hockey, was being alienated and americanized. The book was a good read, but only hockey and sports enthusiast would probably like it.

If you buy this book, as I did, expecting it to be what it was supposed to be ("An insider's look at the NHL"), you're pretty much out of luck. I knew nothing of Stan Fischler before I started Cracked Ice and finished the book knowing far more than I coud ever have wanted. This is "me journalism" at its worst -- do we really need to be told time and time again at great length how he prepared for a TV interview, where he stood in some building waiting to catch an NHL bigwig and how much he, Stan Fischler, is respected in the game? Half way through the book I found myself muttering "Shut up already". The only exception to the self-serving litany is a powerful chapter detailing the severe heart problems which strike down Fischler's teenage son and the warm-hearted reaction from friends (and adversaries)in the game. But I cannot believe the publishers could not have found an editor capable of whipping this overblown diary, this notebook, into something resembling a decent product. The book focusses largely on the overthrow of former NHL supremo John Ziegler and the travails of the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils. If like me you wanted some insight into why the Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets moved south, you're out of luck again. What is most frustrating about Cracked Ice is that Fischler obviously does have the contacts within the game and has a huge amount of knowledge. When he resists the urge to tell you how wonderful he is, the author comes up with the goods and gives us real insights into the dirty deals, botched PR exercises and the other ailments of the game. I only wish this book had come with a warning about Fischler's oversized ego.

I'm afraid the previous reviewer does Stan Fischler a disservice, because if he doesn't know who he is prior to picking up the book he's setting himself up for a disappointment. Fischler happens to be one of the most knowledgable men about hockey but he also happens to be New York based and reports on the Islanders and Devils so you would have to expect that he's going to focus chiefly on his own strengths. Devoting space to the moves of Minnesota and Quebec would be like asking a Quebec writer/broadcaster to devote equal space to the travails of the Islanders and Devils. And while as a Ranger fan Fischler's anti-Ranger bias has annoyed me for years at times, he is a knowledgable insider and the best hockey author I know of. This book is worth reading.

Great book for those curious about what happens in the NHL. Enjoyable, but drags at times. Just read through it, because it's worth every word in gold.

If you are an avid hockey fan, you will probably find this of interest. If you're just an average fan who only cares about on ice action, it may not be all that enjoyable. The book is based on a CBC-TV series and the producers were given behind the scenes access into events not normally open to the media during the 1997-1998 season. This leads to some interesting stories that give insight into the economics of the game and the personalities of the people who run it. However, stories not based on "behind the scene" activities were glossed over and in a couple of places left incomplete. Now that the 1999-2000 season is over, the book seems somewhat dated. I wish I had read this book when it first came out and the events discussed were fresher in my memory. And one final comment, the book is printed on high quality paper that is usually seen in photography books; however the photos in this book look just a little bit better than what you get when you take a photo of your TV. My guess is while there was a lot of videotaping of the behind the scenes events, there was no still photography done and all the photos are taken directly from the video for the TV series.

I didn't get much out of the book. If you want good reading on a year's worth of NHL activities, check out Roy McGregor's 'Road Games,' or Gzowski's 'Game of our Lives.' I wasn't very satisfied with this purchase.

This book is a summary of the first 50 years of the National Hockey League, written in 1967. I enjoyed reading this book, mainly just to read the 1967 perspective on hockey events of the past and what people thought would happen in the future. There's a priceless quote towards the end to the effect that no one was likely to break Terry Sawchuk's record of 100 shutouts due to the advent of the two-goalie system. (Might want to warn Martin Brodeur about that one.) It was interesting to read about the NHL's history, but too often events are given without context and that makes you wonder why things were important. Good examples of this are a lot of the trades he lists. Maybe in 1967 the audience was familiar with all of the players discussed, but now reading about the trades seems like wasted prose. The writing style isn't very interesting either, it's mostly just presenting facts without much creativity put into the process. Still, I enjoyed reading it because I learned a lot about both the NHL's and hockey's history, and this book is a good one to pick up at a used book store if you're a big hockey fan.

This book is good for the people who know very little about hockey. If you know alot it is very lame.

No consistency. Poorly written. Finished reading the book with an idea that the author put this book together on a few raint weeekends.

Jeff Jacobs is a genius. That isn't a word I throw around lightly, mind you; I reserve it for the true greats in any field--people like Alphonse Mucha, Peter North, and Ian Ziering. Jeff Jacobs, it turns out, is a genius in his chosen field of hornswaggling. I bought this book expecting a book about the greats of ice hockey. Ivan Lebre! Mike Liut! Pat Verbeek!

Instead, Jacobs has chosen to expose readers who unwittingly purchase his book to his invented brands of hockey. And boy, do I ever hope these aren't widely played. First, there are the expected, once you figure out you've been duped: the description of Tonsil Hockey, which I don't have to explain, is littered with Jacobs' fantasies about who he'd like to play Tonsil Hockey with: Michael Bloomberg, the now-departed Queen Mum, and a young man named Sameer for whom Jacobs seems to have an unrequited lust.

Then there's Genital Hockey, which as I understand it--I only read a few pages before skipping this chapter in disgust--involves slapping one's member repeatedly against used, unwashed sporting goods that once belonged to professional athletes (Jacobs is a big fan of Derek Jeter). Based on this chapter alone, this should not have been marketed as a pop-up book for kids. The same caveat applies to the chapter on Rectal Hockey.

All in all, a shameful book. I don't know why Honcho Publishing agreed to be a part of this fiasco.

Terrible. Easily the worst hockey book ever written. Ranking the Detroit octopus as one of his 10 greatest blue-liners? Unbelievable.

Mine came with pages missing.

Who knew there were so many legends in hockey? Peter Pan, Paul Bunyan, Bigfoot, King Arthur - the list goes on, and the author weaves their tales of mystery and puck handling with a style that would make Edward Bulwar-Lytton proud.

For example: "Centuries may pass, as centuries often do, as swiftly and silently as a giant and his blue ox skating into the neutral zone with 30 seconds left on a power play, but the stories of the legends - the true legends of hockey, must be told. And these are some of them."

I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Jeff Jacobs is possibly the least talented sportswriter in the world, and I say this as a resident of a town that hosts the NY Daily News and NY Post. It is now my goal in life to find Jeff Jacobs and waste an amount of his time equal to the amount of time I spent reading his book, which was approximately 30 minutes until I decided my fireplace needed more kindling. This was back in June.

The Biblical book of Job is easier to read than this hack. My 5-year-old nephew writes more intelligently. If it weren't for spell checkers in the editing process his sentences probably wouldn't have periods. Or spaces between words.

On top of all this, Jeff Jacobs is a bad human being, who would likely use his position as columnist in a hartford newspaper to personally attack the lifestyle and hobbies of a coworker just out of spite, and likely because that coworker refused to share secrets with him. Not that this has ever occurred, of course.